The top stocks to watch today (Thursday) are Facebook Inc. (Nasdaq: FB), AstraZeneca Plc. (NYSE ADR: AZN), and natural gas company Oneok Partners LP (NYSE: OKS).
The Federal Open Market Committee had its first meeting of the year yesterday. Following the FOMC meeting it was announced that rates would be held at 0.5% to 0.75%.
The only U.S. economic report expected today is the initial jobless claims. So the biggest thing moving markets today will be the large number of earnings reports being released.
Here are three top stocks to watch today...
Top Stocks to Watch Thursday: Facebook Inc. (Nasdaq: FB)
Facebook stock is up about 1% in early morning trading after a better than expected Q4 earnings report.
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The company announced earnings per share (EPS) of $1.24. Analysts expected EPS of $1.11. Revenue was reported at $8.8 billion, topping the expectation of $8.5 billion.
Facebook's investments in mobile, live video, and Instagram are the main reasons for the better than expected earnings report.
The outlook for 2017 is cautious. The company expects ad revenue growth to be moderate. Rising costs will bring earnings lower this year as the company invests and hires more engineers.
FB stock is currently trading at $133.23 for a gain of 15.8% year to date (YTD).
Top Stocks to Watch Thursday: AstraZenica Plc. (NYSE ADR: AZN)
AstraZenica stock is down over 3% in early morning trading after reporting slowing sales of its best-selling drugs.
Total revenue was down 5%, and new drugs and treatments are struggling to make up for sales decreases of Crestor and Nexium.
The company has been investing in new treatments, but the growth cannot outpace the loss in sales of AstraZenica's best sellers.
Crestor, the company's best-selling cholesterol medication, has seen a drop in sales of 57%. Nexium, the company's stomach acid medication, has seen a drop in sales of 39%.
AZN stock is currently trading at $27.76 for a gain of 1.6% YTD.
Top Stocks to Watch Thursday: Oneok Partners LP (NYSE: OKS)
Oneok stock is up almost 20% after it announced a merger deal.
The company will purchase the remaining portion of the master limited partnership of Oneok. It will pay a 22.4% premium for the remaining shares, which are worth about $9 billion.
The move will help the company lower costs, increase its dividend by 21% this year, and increase the annual dividend by 9% to 11% through 2021.
OKS stock is currently trading at $51.70 for a gain of 8.7% YTD.
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Related Articles:
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- Financial Times: Sales of AstraZenica's Best-Sellers Slump